Should I keep my Kapex?

[jaguar36]

I've had a Kapex for a few months now and have found it to be very underwhelming.  I'm coming from a Dewalt 12" non-sliding saw which retails for $200, and honestly in most situations I like the Dewalt better.  The Kapex does have more horizontal capacity so thats nice, and I like the hold-down clamp, but thats not really a big deal.  I have a white light guide on the Dewalt, which I find to work better than the laser on the Kapex.  I know I could adjust the laser on the Kapex, but I don't want to poke holes since I'm thinking of selling it.  Having the adjustments be behind the label in the first place is a bizarre design choice.  My saw stays in my miter station, so I don't care about portability, nor dust collection.  I really disslike the double action required to turn on and lower the saw on the Kapex.

The biggest thing though is the kickbacks.  Having to wait for the blade to stop to prevent it is both time consuming and something I frequently forget to do.

I do like the Kapex, you know it is that pretty green color  [smile].  The increased accuracy may come in handy at some point, I've been irritated at that on the Dewalt from time to time.  I'm just thinking I would be better off selling the Kapex and getting a Rotex (one of the few other Festools I'm missing) or something.

 

[nickao]

You answered your own question, Get rid of it without question or hesitation and invest the money in a better Festool for you. Why would anyone that is happy with the 250.00 saw  spend over 1500.00 when a 250.00 saw is doing the work needed? I would tell my son status. If a Kapex is needed great, but it sounds like for you its not.

I agree with much of what you say and I still never understood why such an expensive machine would be needed for a simple cross cut or miter. What the miter saws are designed for in the first place just dont justify the cost, FOR ME. With a table or Band saw I can do at least 100 operations and there are far more. With a miter box? It cross cuts. Any tuned miter, slider or chop box can, with the right blade,  give the same perfectly fitting cuts for 1/5 of the cost of the Kapex or any other brand Miter saw for that matter.

For guys that dont use a miter on a daily basis for crown or cabinets etc and only have miters or cross cutting to do every once in a blue moon a disc sander, table saw, band saw with a jig or even a track saw can be used to get perfect cross and miter cuts. The Kapex for me is just not needed. I probably spent to much on my Milwaukee, which I love.

 

[DanielOB]

The problem with all miter saws is limited cut length, and to me it is a deal-breaker. Even I have a Bosch miter saw, I just got KSC55 with rails, and I am looking to use this saw whenever I need any miter cut. The only advantage of the miter saw is depth cut and setup for quick cuts of a lot of "studs" at the length.

Sell it, there are better tools out there, especially from Mafell and Festool too.

 

[mastercabman]

Just sell it
I do like the Kapex but apart from been easy to carry and good dust control any of the Bosch, dewalt, makita are just as good
If you like your dewalt then be it!

 

[peter halle]

I agree - sell it.  You aren't happy with it even though you feel you should be.  Then you ask us here for input - not bashing you for that.  But if you have to ask us you already know the answer that it is right for you.

Peter

 

[b.hog]

I recently purchased a Kapex and wouldn't trade it for any other saw. I've had dewalt , Bosch , Milwaukee,delta ,and craftsman saws over the years and have used others and to me the Kapex is the top. It's expensive as hell but since you already own it I say  keep it. When you need it you have it. I've never been able to make repeatedly accurate cuts with any other sliding saw.
 

 

[teocaf]

I see three options here:

Option 1:  Keep it.  Why?  Because I said so.  The collective does not always agree on all matters.

Option 2:  Selling it is a big hassle:  dealing with all the unwashed masses coming by at all hours to kick the blades, insulting you with lowball offers, scouting out your shop for "future visits", the list goes on...  Just set it out by the curb and done.  What was your address again?

Option 3:  Keep using it, but for other things.  Some years back I read some article where Tage Frid's former assistants were recollecting some of their favorite memories about the guy.  One of them sees Tage (pronounced Taye, by the way) walk into the shop carrying this big piece of some kind of frozen meat.  He fires up the bandsaw and starts cutting it into steak-sized pieces.  Everyone is staring at him and he just pats his stomach and walks back out to hand the meat to his wife.  So I'm sure you can make a space for your Kapex in the basement right next to your deep freezer.

So there you have it, all kinds of options for your decision matrix.  Do let the collective know how it all turns out...

 

[Tyler Ernsberger]

I would sell it.  One thing nice about Festool is that you will have no problems selling it.  I personally own a Dewalt Dual Bevel 12in and its been a great saw.  I have owned it for 9 years and use it just about every day.  The one thing that I did is upgraded the dust shoot.  Now with my upgrade I get 90% of the dust with a dust extractor.  It rides in the back of my truck and gets beat and still cuts true.  Truthfuly when my Dewalt dies I will get a Bosch hinge saw.

Getting a ro sander is a great idea.  No other brand of sander can do what the ro sanders can do imop.  I recently  bought a ro90 and thought it was awesome and enjoyed using it.  I look down and saw it was on speed 4,  so I turned the dial to 6.........  Its an amazing sander!!!!!!!  I also own a ro150 and I havent used my belt sander since. 

 

[woodwreck]

writer above says it all..

Option 2:  Selling it is a big hassle:  dealing with all the unwashed masses coming by at all hours to kick the blades, insulting you with lowball offers, scouting out your shop for "future visits", the list goes on...  Just set it out by the curb and done.  What was your address again?

Maybe someone will steal mine from a jobsite (not having them visit me) and my insurance will pay for like replacement costs. Recalling the $1,300 I paid for mine makes me ill.

 

[nickao]

[tongue]

I would sell it.  One thing nice about Festool is that you will have no problems selling it.  I personally own a Dewalt Dual Bevel 12in and its been a great saw.  I have owned it for 9 years and use it just about every day.  The one thing that I did is upgraded the dust shoot.  Now with my upgrade I get 90% of the dust with a dust extractor.  It rides in the back of my truck and gets beat and still cuts true.  Truthfuly when my Dewalt dies I will get a Bosch hinge saw.

Getting a ro sander is a great idea.  No other brand of sander can do what the ro sanders can do imop.  I recently  bought a ro90 and thought it was awesome and enjoyed using it.  I look down and saw it was on speed 4,  so I turned the dial to 6.........  Its an amazing sander!!!!!!!  I also own a ro150 and I havent used my belt sander since. 

I do love the Festool RO 150 sanders.

But others sanders can do what the RO sanders do. If you are looking to save money the Bosch 1250 DEVS is every bit if not even more aggressive and leaves a fine fine with zero dust when attached to a collector.  Its definitely in the same league a as the Festool RO and  some people prefer it not only becasue is 50% of the cost but because of the mostly all metal construction.

You could buy the Bosch 1250 DEVS and get a Festool ETS 150/3 and have a heck of a line up of sanders

 

[tallgrass]

you are the best judge of what you need. i got rid of mine. my only regret is in the color coordination of my tools. i got over that too.

 

[Ed Bray]

I love my Kapex but each to their own.

I would do a search on these forums for the Kapex kickback solution, it's easy to do, takes a couple of minutes and totally solves the kickback issue.

 

[Kev]

Why not use it as a strong reminder to think before you buy, by keeping it in a very prominent place?

I've got lots of things that I have little use for and could potentially sell but I don't suffer buyer's remorse like you seem to be experiencing.

 

[Holmz]

Why not use it as a strong reminder to think before you buy, by keeping it in a very prominent place?

I've got lots of things that I have little use for and could potentially sell but I don't suffer buyer's remorse like you seem to be experiencing.

Festool's 30 day policy is there to protect the buyer and preventing ill-feeling about having a tool that is not compatible with the user.
It is a big draw that makes it a safe bet to go Festool, and keeps people from being resentful/remorseful.
... Particularly when it is difficult to get an appreciation of the tool in a showroom.

The OP would be mad not to consider that.

 

[Wuffles]

Why not use it as a strong reminder to think before you buy, by keeping it in a very prominent place?

I've got lots of things that I have little use for and could potentially sell but I don't suffer buyer's remorse like you seem to be experiencing.

Festool's 30 day policy is there to protect the buyer and preventing ill-feeling about having a tool that is not compatible with the user.
It is a big draw that makes it a safe bet to go Festool, and keeps people from being resentful/remorseful.
... Particularly when it is difficult to get an appreciation of the tool in a showroom.

The OP would be mad not to consider that.

He'd be mad to try it...he's had it for a couple of months - opening sentence.

 

[Holmz]

...
He'd be mad to try it...he's had it for a couple of months - opening sentence.

I need better reading compression...  [cool]

 

[BrianJA]

You should cut your losses and send me the say. I will even chip in shipping.

 

[jaguar36]

I would do a search on these forums for the Kapex kickback solution, it's easy to do, takes a couple of minutes and totally solves the kickback issue.

Could you post a link?  I searched but the only solution that I saw was to check to make sure the bed and fence were flat and aligned (which I'll do when I get home).  Everything else I saw was just other people who were also complaining about kickback.

Also just to be clear I'm talking about "2) The blade grabs the small cutoff and rockets it straight back into the bevel gauge sending it ricocheting in an unpredictable direction as you contemplate the whole clean underpants thing again."

 

[jaguar36]

I do love the Festool RO 150 sanders.

But others sanders can do what the RO sanders do. If you are looking to save money the Bosch 1250 DEVS is every bit if not even more aggressive and leaves a fine fine with zero dust when attached to a collector.  Its definitely in the same league a as the Festool RO and  some people prefer it not only becasue is 50% of the cost but because of the mostly all metal construction.

You could buy the Bosch 1250 DEVS and get a Festool ETS 150/3 and have a heck of a line up of sanders

I've already got a ETS 150, so I'm considering the Rotex 150 to match it, but I'm not sure its all that worthwhile since I don't do much rough sanding. 

 

[Kev]

I do love the Festool RO 150 sanders.

But others sanders can do what the RO sanders do. If you are looking to save money the Bosch 1250 DEVS is every bit if not even more aggressive and leaves a fine fine with zero dust when attached to a collector.  Its definitely in the same league a as the Festool RO and  some people prefer it not only becasue is 50% of the cost but because of the mostly all metal construction.

You could buy the Bosch 1250 DEVS and get a Festool ETS 150/3 and have a heck of a line up of sanders

I've already got a ETS 150, so I'm considering the Rotex 150 to match it, but I'm not sure its all that worthwhile since I don't do much rough sanding.

The RO is also a brilliant polisher ... [wink]